Thorn Valley
by MewSara100
Summary: She thought she'd run away from it all, run away from him. She wonders each night if he's angry at her for abandoning him. But, when he comes knocking, is it really revenge that he wants. Or, does he feel what she does?
1. Chapter 1

"Stop playing mind games with us, Miss! Give us your answer or we'll take you back forcibly!"

"My, aren't you quite the noisy little underlings… Tell him that I have no such intentions of ever returning, and that he needs to find a replacement for me." She replied, glancing up from her reading, firm chocolate eyes falling on the two men, tall and well-built, with shaggy faces and sunglasses.

"You don't understand, Miss. He'll have us killed if we don't bring you back!" one replied, stepping boldly forward, a hand to his chest.

"Does it look like I care?" she shot back bluntly, her eyes now settling back to her book.

"Miss is so stubborn… I suppose this won't be that easily done after all…" muttered the other, previously silent, man.

"Yes, I must say that I admire Miss greatly for her willfulness. However it is tiring at times to try and convince her to listen to Boss." The first man replied with a shake of his head.

"Hey, Won, I think I know how we can get her to listen…" the second man realized, motioning for the first man, Won, to come closer.

"Yeah…? Hmm? OH! I see…" muttered the other, a dangerously sneaky glint shining through his thick shades.

"What are you two fools babbling about? I don't have the time and I don't have the patience to play these idiotic little games with you…" she growled, standing finally from where she'd previously sat beneath the tree.

"Fine." Muttered the first man, stepping ever closer to her, that glint of sneakiness still lingering below his shades. "I suppose you're right, Miss. It may be true that we alone cannot take you on. It is also true that we do not have the ability to subdue you and bring you back."

"However" the second man chimed in, "We DO have a man who CAN take you on and bring you back." It was here that the two had stopped, mere inches away from the girl, her back against the tree.

"You wouldn't dare." She scowled, her fists clenched at her sides.

"Oh, we would in a heartbeat, Miss." The first man replied confidently, a content smirk playing across his face.

"So, unless you want to face the embarrassment of losing to him again, then I suggest you come quietly." The second man suggested, reaching out for her wrist.

"Sorry, but I don't think I want to go back just yet." She replied, hoisting herself easily up into the highest branches of the large oak, using them as a means of escape, leaping from one to the next.

"Quickly, we have to chase her! Even if we don't capture her, we still need to know where 'he' can find her." The first man ordered, dashing after her from the ground, the second man following closely behind.

'Damn, I've got to find some way to lose them! If they know where I'm staying they'll send 'him' after me… That's one person I pray I'll never see again.' She thought to herself, leaping from tree to tree, further and further into the denser trees of the park.

"Perfect, I can just faze into that crowd over there! They'll never be able to follow me through such a thick crowd!" she muttered, leaping from the tree, straight into the edge of the crowd, quickly integrating herself with the rest of the onlookers.

'Ah! Hey, there's Purin! Good, she's performing a street act and the people are gathering together! It'll be easier than I thought to hide!' from her place in the midst of the dense crowd of fans she could easily see Purin, her acrobatic monkey like friend.

"And now, for my final act!" shouted Purin, expertly balanced atop a multi-colored beach ball, "I will need two male volunteers, ok?" winking down at her from the throw together stage in the middle of the crowd, Purin had taken notice that her friend was being chased again.

"I can't see her anywhere in this damned crowd."

"Yeah, me neither. Should we just stake out the area?"

"You two guys down there! Yeah, you two in the suits, come on up here and be my assistants!" hollered Purin, watching in content amusement as her fans pulled the two to the stage by force.

Mouthing 'thank you' before sneaking out of the crowd and into some nearby bushes, Ichigo saw Purin nod once and begin her last act of the day; juggling multiple, very sharp, swords over the two as they lay there on the stage, probably having wet themselves.

…

"Olive, I'm home cat!" she hollered, entering into her apartment by way of fire escape.

"Nya!" was the cat's eager reply as it leapt down from the back of the couch, dashing over to its mistress.

"Hey there kitty, what's up? Yah guard the place with me away?" she asked lightly, kneeling to rub Olive's tan/grey ears as she purred.

"Nya!"

"Good girl! Guess what?"

"Nya?"

"Won and Lee came looking for me earlier at the park. Fortunately I can outrun them and had Purin's help. They threatened to call 'him' though."

Upon hearing this, the cat's eyes went soft, understanding swimming in the emerald pools. "Nya~"

"Olive, I don't. I'm over it now… I've moved on since then. I'm not who I used to be and I'll never go back." She argued, standing once more. "I don't love him anymore… I guess I was stupid to have ever thought it would work." She muttered, her expression falling.

Kicking off her shoes underneath the ledge of the counter she sighed and made her way up to the loft of the apartment.

Flopping down lazily onto her bed, her bag tossed onto her desk chair, she couldn't help but recall the last night she'd seen 'him'.

…

"_Ichigo, please don't go…"_

"_Ryou, I'm sorry, honest. But, you know why I'm leaving, right?" turning towards him and away from her bag, her eyes shone pure and innocent with sadness._

"_Ichigo, it's not like he's making you get married or anything." He pointed out, taking her hands firmly in his._

"_Yeah, I know. It's just that, after Jun's funeral he started talking about inheriting the family name… He says I'll be running things when the time comes." She muttered, voice laden heavily with stress. She couldn't bear to look into his eyes. She turned her tear streaked face away from his piercing cerulean eyes, not wanting him to see her cry._

"_You think your brother, Jun, was more worthy of the position?" he asked, his grip tightening._

"_Yeah, kind of." She whimpered, her hands clenching into fists. "Actually though, it's more than just that… it's the fact that I don't want to be the leader of a Yakuza! Ryou, you can outwit me and out fight me… Why didn't he choose you? It's not against the rules to make someone who's not your own child your heir…so why me?"_

"_He chose you because he knew you were best for the position. You're his daughter and he trained you just the same as he did me. He knows you have the strength and the skill to succeed him."_

"_Yes, but Ryou, you're stronger than I am and it's as if you're his son. So, why didn't he choose you instead?"_

"_He chose you because you have traits that I don't. First, you're just as sneaky as he is when it comes to getting information. Second you have his willfulness, something I don't. When in the heat of the moment I can't think… I do stupid things like beat somebody up. You, on the other hand, can push for peace."_

"_Sorry, Ryou… I can't guarantee I'll see you again, but just know I don't regret us being friends." And with that she leapt from the window, into the night._

…

"It's been four years, Ryou… Do you think of me often? Are you still angry at me for what I did? I didn't mean to abandon you, but I couldn't do it." She sighed, staring up through the large sunlight, out into the thick night outside.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, this is where she lives?" muttered a voice from within the deep depths of the night, cerulean eyes gazing up longingly into the darkened loft window. 'Those idiots couldn't find her, so they called me…' he thought smugly, running his hand easily through his soft golden hair.

Glancing down happily at the key he held firmly in his free hand he grinned, sneaking stealthily over to the side of the building, right below the loft window.

'Here I come, Ichigo. Let's see if you've gotten any better…' grabbing hold of the thick vines that trailed along most of that side of the large brick building, tugging to make sure they were secured, he made his way up towards the open window.

…

"Mm…where'd the cookies go?" tossing silently across the bed, only half asleep as she lay, she could just barely hear an outside shuffling below her window, in the night.

"Nya!" Olive mewed softly in confirmation, poking her nose down and partially out the window for a clearer scent.

Sitting up slowly, silently, carefully, she was about to sneak towards the window with her 45 magnum and jump whoever was stupid enough to break in.

However, as she stood aside from the window, she could hear a sort of familiar grunts, as if one of the thorns on the vines had probably snagged the intruder's sleeve.

That's when it struck her that whoever it was may know her. Considering her past it was no wonder someone would try killing her. So, slowly inching away from the window, gun ready to fire as she held it in her hands, she climbed back into bed, slipping it silently and carefully under and extra pillow beside her on her bed.

Once Olive was comfortably settled into her place beside Ichigo's head, opposite the gun, she was ready to shoot.

…

'Why did she have to go buy a loft? Particularly one whose walls are blanketed mostly by thorns.' He thought grudgingly, scaling the tall building until finally he neared her window, ignoring the many pokes and scrapes he'd gotten while doing so.

"Finally there…" he muttered, pulling himself up onto the balcony in one quick, fluid motion.

Silently, fluidly, he strode to the window from the balcony, ignoring the bitter chill that seemed to linger around him, tugging at his black jacket and red cotton wife beater. His golden locks of hair seemed to ride on the wind, no longer quite as neat as they'd started out.

Upon realizing the window was only cracked partially, enough for a small creature to wiggle through, he groaned, digging around in his jeans for the key. 'Damn, so that's what fell when I climbed up? Oh well, it shouldn't be too terribly difficult to pick the lock of a window.' Eventually pulling out the desired items he grinned, squatting slightly for a better look at the window.

"There, done." He muttered victoriously, pulling the window fully open while still keeping totally silent. After his most recent success he'd went to work, stealthily slipping into the darkened room, closing the window securely behind him, totally unaware of the tiny pair of cat eyes watching him closely from behind the small mass under the blankets.

'Here goes nothing.' She thought to herself, cocking the gun so quietly that not even Olive heard it. 'Who's the bastard who dares to sneak into my loft?'

Looming over her like the predator he was, Ryou reached down, about to turn away the top of the covers, only partially suspicious of a possible trap. He'd not seen her in so long, and was eager to hold her again and see her smile. He wanted to argue with her again and get her really fired up, and be there with her to laugh off the argument. He wanted things to be like they used to.

'What's that smell? Where've I smelled that before?' she pondered silently, almost totally forgetting about the trap. Her mind was beginning to fog, filled with the dangerous, bold, yet calm scent of Axe, Dark Chocolate. 'Funny, I used to buy that for Ryou for Christmas…' she sighed happily, taken about to a distant memory, her mind no longer filled with thoughts of the intruder.

"Nya~" Olive warned, pawing lightly at her owner's neck, signaling her to snap out of her dazed trance.

'Shit, that's right! I can't be thinking about that right now, when some asshole's in my room!' she realized with a jolt, her fingers securely wrapped around the base of the gun, finger loose and ready to pull the trigger.

'A gun, huh? Nice touch, I'll give you that. But you wouldn't shoot me, even if you wanted to, Ichigo. You just don't have the skill it takes.' He thought smugly, drifting silently through the shadows, towards the opposite side of the bed.

"Nya…?" Olive mewed in confusion, glancing around, unable to sense him in the dark.

'Damn it, this guy's good…' she thought bitterly, about to shift in the bed, inconspicuously trying to turn so that she could jump the intruder easily.

'She's awake; I can already see it in the way she moves so stiffly.' He thought smugly, soundlessly perching himself on his hands and knees, crouched at the bedside, ducking out of the beam of the full moonlight sneaking in through the window.

"Nya"

"Shut up, you damned cat." He hissed, glaring angrily at the cat, busy at work trying to claw his knees up.

"Hiss"

"Bite me"

Chomp

"OUCH~!" his hands flying to cover his mouth, he groaned inwardly at the possibility that she'd heard him, which he was pretty sure she had.

BAM!

It was a good thing he was fast, or else the butt of Ichigo's gun would've knocked him out on the temple upon contact. Thankfully, however, he'd been semi-prepared for that and had made sure to catch her wrist and dodge the attack.

"It's not nice to attack your guests like that, Ichigo~!" he cooed, bringing her wrist to lay pinned under his hand on the pillow, his deep azure eyes staring calmly into her own chocolate ones.

"R-Ryou…" she muttered in disbelief, too startled to try and resist his hold on her hand. There she lay, on her back, pinned to the bed, her best friend staring her down easily, his lips set into a distorted sort of triumphant smirk.

"Long time no see."

**Hope you guys enjoyed reading the chappie~! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in what seems like FOREVER! I'm back for a little while at least. **

**RxR**

**God Bless~!**


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